Lazy Afternoons
by Ace Axolotl
Summary: Little Mac, upon Ness' request, hangs out with the younger smashers.


With yet another mistake made on his part, Little Mac left himself wide open for an attack that would launch him off the stage, which was exactly the kind of move Kirby went in for. The boxer tried to leap back onto ground, but his efforts were halfhearted at this point. No matter how hard he trained, Little Mac just couldn't manage to pull off some of the stunts other fighters could. It seemed like he always just sank like a rock whenever he lost his ground.

Normally, it didn't bother the fighter very much. After all, he was very powerful on the stage; it was only fair that he had to have some other kind of weakness. But lately the boxer was starting to feel depressed, and his lack of motivation showed in the increasing amount of losses he was building up on his record. Little Mac knew that should've bothered him too, but he just couldn't bring himself to get his head in the game, so to speak.

Making his way back to his room after the fight, he decided to take a quick shower to rinse off and give himself some time to think.

When Little Mac first arrived to Smash Brothers, the boxer had many reasons to be excited. This was his chance to move away from the Bronx, to meet new people from previously unimaginable places and hopefully make friends with them. Not to mention all the glory that he would gain from being a fighter. However, the wonder of moving to a new place was quick to wear off on the boxer, and now he felt more lonely and homesick than anything else. Smash manor was no doubt a luxurious place to live, but sometimes Mac couldn't help but miss the busy streets of his home. Having Doc Louis pay him visits every now and again did ease the depression a bit, but it just wasn't the same.

Perhaps the boxer wouldn't have as much time to concentrate on his homesickness if he had friends to distract him from those feelings, but that was also another problem he was having. As far as he could tell, no one straight up disliked him, but Mac felt like he hadn't quite made a close connection with anyone in particular, either.

Finishing up his shower and returning to his room, Mac was a little surprised when he heard a knock on the door. "Just a second," he called, sliding on a new change of clothes. It wasn't often that people would come knocking on his door, and he idly wondered if he'd done something to get on someone's bad side. Opening up his door, the boxer was quite shocked to see Ness, of all people, standing there. "Do you need something?" Mac started, already feeling a bit awkward under the psychic's gaze. He hadn't really talked to Ness much before, and was at a loss as to why he had come to visit.

"Wanna come play outside with us?" The shorter of the two spoke up.

"Oh, uh, sure?" The boxer shrugged. He hadn't really interacted with many of the younger fighters before, and Ness' sudden request threw him off. But, it wasn't like he had anything better to do for the day, and Mac would've been lying if he said he didn't appreciate the fact that they wanted to hang out with him.

The psychic led him down the stairs, taking the back exit of the mansion and entering the backyard. They walked down the back porch and winded through manicured gardens, until at last Mac could see a large, flat field. Sitting among the grass was Toon Link, the red-shirted Villager, Lucas, Bowser Jr., Megaman, and oddly enough, Red. The boxer assumed the kids here were all friends with Ness, but he couldn't help but wonder if the older boy also got roped into whatever they had planned. They sat down with the others, and at that point Mac wasn't sure what to do anymore. Ness had said they were going to play outside, but never specified what that meant.

"Megaman, I think it's your turn to pick the game," Ness said, and once again the boxer was thrown off guard. He didn't expect them to be so… orderly when it came to decision making.

The robot took a moment to think, and then finally spoke up. "Does tag sound okay with all of you?"

Everyone gave a sign of approval, except Bowser Jr. "What? Tag is like, the most boring game ever! Why would you pick that?"

"I like tag," Lucas commented. "And it was your turn to pick last time. It's only fair that if we play your games, you play ours."

"We could play freeze tag," Megaman offered, but Bowser Jr. simply grumbled and accepted his fate.

With the choice of a game confirmed, everyone stood back up, Mac following their lead. "Ok… nose goes!" Ness suddenly cried, pointing a finger at this nose immediately afterwards. The boxer took a second too long to realize what he was supposed to do, and as a result was the last person to copy the psychic's actions. "Looks like you're it, Little Mac. Get ready in 3, 2, 1, go!"

All at once, the fighters sprinted away from Mac, going in all different directions as if they were a scared flock of birds. The boxer examined the field, then sprinted after the Villager, whom he deemed was in the closest proximity. Instantly, the kid picked up his pace, changing his direction and running towards Megaman to try and divert the attention. Mac knew what the younger one was trying to do, but stayed on his tail. He was gaining on the kid fast, and was determined to tag him. Finally, the boxer reached out an arm, so close to tapping the Villager on the shoulder, when the boy took out a pot of flowers and promptly dropped it on his foot.

"Gah!" Little Mac cried, taking a moment to nurse his injured foot. Thanks to the magic in the mansion, no wound was too permanent, but that didn't mean nothing could hurt. Villager joyfully skipped away from Mac, smiling at the fact that the boxer couldn't tag him. The teenager berated himself; these kids were smashers too, of course they wouldn't play tag by the rules of an average Joe.

A lot of the kids couldn't help but laugh as Mac kept failing to catch anyone. Surveying the field once again, Mac finally set his eyes on Red. He wasn't a fighter anymore, and as far as Mac knew, when he was a competitor it was the pokémon that did most of the work. Surely he wouldn't have any dirty tricks up his sleeve?

The trainer locked eyes with the boxer, and Mac charged at him. Red was quick to start running at a surprisingly fast pace, practically leaving him in the dust. However, Mac wouldn't give up that easily, and sped up in his efforts to catch the other boy. "How are you so fast?" the boxer blurted, getting frustrated. Red turned around and slowed down, yet kept a safe distance between them. The trainer made a few gestures with his hands, but Little Mac had a hard time interpreting what he was trying to tell him.

It must have shown on his face, as Lucas called out across the field. "He's saying he has to run away from wild pokémon a lot, and that's how he got so fast, I think." Red nodded in confirmation, but Mac only sighed. Still, a plan was starting for formulate in the boxer's mind, and he kept up his sprint towards Red. The trainer darted away from him, weaving his way around the other kids on the field. He kept after Red, leaving the others with a false sense of security. After all, if Mac was going after Red, they wouldn't try as hard to keep away from him, right?

His plan worked. As Red rushed past Toon Link, Mac quickly spun around and made a break for him instead. The boxer was too quick for the younger one, and in a matter of seconds Mac had finally managed to tap Toon Link on the shoulder. "Hah!" he whooped in triumph, jogging away from the warrior who was now "it".

* * *

"Did you have fun today?" Little Mac jumped at the sudden question from Ness. It had been quite a few hours since their game of tag began, and after finishing their game and eating dinner together, the two were going back to their respective bedrooms for the night.

"Yeah, I did. Thanks for inviting me to hang out with you guys." It wasn't a lie; Little Mac couldn't recall the last time he'd played such a childish game, but it had ended up being one of the most enjoyable things he'd done since coming to the smash mansion.

They stopped in front of Mac's door, but the teen's hand rested on the door handle when he saw Ness linger, as if he was contemplating something.

The boxer waited patiently, until the younger one finally spoke up. "I used to get incredibly homesick, when I first came here." There was a bit of a pause as Ness gathered his thoughts. "Back then, our tech wasn't as good, so it was even more of a hassle to pay visits home. I got really lonely, because I didn't know anyone." The younger boy shrugged. "Honestly, I think most of us were feeling like that, since we were still getting used to each other."

Mac's hand slid from the handle. "Oh." He was unsure of what to say, but wanted to acknowledge the other's words. He couldn't believe that Ness noticed how he was feeling. Even if the boy was psychic, as far as Mac knew he didn't read minds. Was it because Ness had gone through the same thing and noticed the symptoms, or was Mac just that easy to read?

Either way, the boy spoke up again. "I'm not trying to like, pity you or something; I just know how awful it can feel. But when you've got nice friends to pick you up whenever you're feeling down, it's not as bad anymore. You're more than welcome to hang around with us, okay? I had a lot of fun today, and I think the others did too."

It wasn't the first time someone had reached out to Mac, but it certainly was the most genuine someone was with their attempt. The teen felt like a small weight on his heart had been lifted, and he smiled at the younger boy. "I… Thanks, Ness. I think I'd like spending more time with you guys."

Ness' eyes brightened with joy, his mouth curving into a smile to match. "Really? Okay, then I guess we'll see each other around, maybe tomorrow or something?" The boxer nodded as the younger began making his way down the hall. "Okay, good night!"

"Night."

* * *

 _Me: I don't know very much about Little Mac_

 _Also Me: I'm gonna write a borderline-pointless story with him_


End file.
